We Watched Life Swept Away by the Current

     Duane and I marveled at the sight of a fledgling as it launched out of a cottonwood and wobbled through the air on its first flight. But then it landed in the nearby creek, flapping its baby wings frantically to escape. Duane hustled down to the water’s edge and reached in to rescue it, but the fast-moving current swept it downstream.
     Gone.
     Drowned.
     And I sobbed. Such a waste of a beautiful life that had only begun to fly. But it landed in a place it should never have gone and was swept into a current it could never handle.
     As can happen with us. Sometimes we’re fledglings in relationships. Or careers. Sometimes we fly into places we should never go or aren’t ready for. Then the current sweeps us away.
     Downstream, Duane and I searched the creek bank, but didn’t find the little bird. Then I remembered Jesus’ words that God knows even when a sparrow falls to the ground, and that I’m worth more than a flock of sparrows. So when I make disastrous landings, I can reach up toward heaven, and God will pluck me out of the current.
​     I’ll still be soaked with the consequences of my choices, but I’ll be back on safe ground.